LOCAL & GENERAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 1787, 20 February 1886, Page 8

LOCAL & GENERAL.

Some months since the proprietors of this journal received orders from New York for the insertion in the Times and Witness of an advertisement setting forth the virtues of an electric lamp. The description of this latest triumph of science challenged suspicion, and the liberality of the advertising agents from whom the order came furnished confirmatory proof that a swindle was being perpetrated on the public. The advertisement was therefore not inserted, and the agent for the United States of the Times and Witness (Mr H. P. Hubbard, of New Haven) was communicated with, with the result that by the mail which reached Dunedin on Thursday a reply was received entirely confirming the suspicions which had been aroused. We give this warning to our readers, as almost all the country journals have published the advertisement without taking the precaution of making any inquiry as to its geuuineness.

Commenting on the Hon. Mr Richardson's speech at Rangiora, the Christchurch Press says:—" The necessity of following the example of some of the other Colonies is, as we have seen, constantly held up to us as worthy of being followed. But the circnuistances of most of these Colonies are entirely different to ours. Their past borrowing is not the great public burden which our borrowing is. The charge of their public debt upon the general taxation is nothing compared with ours. The Victorian railways paid in 1884 all the interest on the debt of the Colony except £292,856 ; the New South Wales railways, all except £220,541 ; the Queensland, all except £444,837 ; while the New Zealand railways only contributed £406,140 in 1884, leaving £1,293,624 interest on the public debt to be paid out of the general taxation of the country. Even if we deduct the sinking funds, which we have oeased to pay, the charge would still be £1 ,000,000 per annum. It is obvious, therefore, that the question of borrowing must be considered in this Colony apart altogether from what they are doing elsewhere It is not pretended by the advocates of borrowing that the future works to be constructed will for some time to come pay anything like the whole of the interest on the cost of their construction. They will not, consequently, lighten, but add to, the burden of taxation which we are already suffering under. It is, therefore, simply a question of so much additional taxation, and that additional taxation depends on the amount of money that is borrowed.*

The miners of Maerewhenua have passed a resolution requesting Mr Duncan, M.HR, to mvite the Minister of Mines to visit the district

A young man iv the employ of Sir William Fitzherbert was badly gored by an Alderney bull last Sunday near Wellington, and but for the prompt assistance of Mr W. Fitzherbert would probably have been killed by the brute

A resolution was passed at a meeting of fruitgrowers at Wellington to contribute pro rata to the expense of testing a case against the Customs for the condemnation of the fruit ex Manapouri. The chairman (Mr Campbell) said , that, in his opinion, American apples had been imported in Hobart cases via Sydney. That |he believed, accounted for the trouble. The' Hobart fruit was to a large extent free from the moth.

The Rhondda Valley, in South Wales, has been the scene of a fearful colliery disaster About 20 minutes to 3 on December 23, an explosion took place at the No. 2 Mai-dy pit near Pontypridd. The mine had its full complement of men— namely, 520 ; and it was at first feared that the loss of life would amount to 200 but the actual number found dead was 74, and 10 others were so badly burnt fhat the deaths have been increased to 79. The explorers penetrated the workings eastward, finding other men in safety, who received their intended deliverers with cries of delight and hand-clasping. The explorers began to meet with falls of roofs and walls. Men, in groups, were found retreating from the south-west district of the mine', and struggling through these falls. One of these groups was bearing its wounded, and assistance had to be summoned, for the bearers were hardly able to crawl themselves. The explorers found no fewer than 60 men hemmed in by an enormous fall on the south-west main intake. Other relief gangs were meanwhile spreading through the workings and struggling to open up passages of escape through the falls. After hours of heroic search the last man was got out who could be found with life in him, but the dead were left until the morning. A very unusual number of single men are amongst the victims of the catastrophe, but it seems there are 30 widows and 72 orphans.

A man named Sydney Knight, who has recently been working with the unemployed, wes sent to gaol for a month by the Police Court magistrates on Friday for beating his wife. Knight has not beep very long in the Colony, but during the past two or three years he has been several times charged in the Police Court dock. Formerly he was connected with an old_established and well-to-do London firm '

Two boys who are engaged, in lighting and trimming the beacon lights in the Victoria Channel had a narrow escape from death op Friday morning. The boys, who were desirona of being towed down the channel, applied to Captain Sinclair, of the Plucky, for that pur* pose, but that gentleman told them he was unable to take them in tow. He, however, advised them to tow astern of the s.s. Wakatipu, and they proceeded to that vessel, when by some means the boat capsized and the lads wera thrown into the water. They were, however, rescued by a fisherman who was towing down astern of the Wakatipu.

A large shark which has infested the Lowes Harbour for the last two months was seen on Friday by some fishermen, who attempted to capture him, but the monster completely straightened out the solid iron hook which he had tak/n with the bait, and escaped for the third time. It is advisable that a party should be formed, equipped with bomb lances, to capture this monster, which is stated to be over 28ft in Jength,

Referring to the vigorous policy which Sit Julius Yogel is supposed to favour, the British Australasian says: — "If Sir Julius really coh» templates a ten-million loan, or anything life© it, he had better des,ist. We haye every faHs» of the completion of the North ,Island Trunjc railway, and there are other lines that it may he advisable to carry out in the early future. Put the present is hardly the time fqr 'a vigorous Public Works policy, and in .Ishis respect we sincerely Jtrust that rumour has ielied ihnu."' 7 ' It is reported (says Truth) tjhat th,e fipkp /&£ Edinburgh has lesolyed to play no solos in public, and tjiat he lias been brought to ,Ijhis itesolution by the criticisms passeojipon hjk yjolaa-playing .by the jPress. ' ' "

A coprjespondent of the Southland 3Sn\e9 gfc&tes fchafc' strong representations weip P^ad^e aoj»s tiwe aga ftp foe apDfljntm.ens $ Jfr

Hodgkinson (who has more than once represented Biverton in the Lower House) to a seat in the Legislative Council. He also states that it is understood these representations will be ignored and two others from the Southland district appointed. In the London General Post-office it has been discovered that many of tho used postal notes returned into store have been tampered with, the original figures having been erased by

chemicals and much larger amounts substituted,

and the water-mark altered in a most artistic manner. The aggregate loss so far as is known does not exceed £50. The forgeries are judged to be the work of one person only, who has so far escaped detection. The extraordinary stories current about the recent property tax assessment (writes a contributor to the Auckland Herald) show either that former valuations have been ridiculously inaccurate, or the present ones as absurdly high. The number of appeals to Wellington are legion. In one case a cottage which the owner would gladly take £250 for is put down ;it .-C7PO. In another case where the property had been rated at £700, the valuer in a fit of leniency only added a cipher to that amount. As be said, what he stuck on was " nought " to anybody, but it meant something more to the owner. Many of the properties have been valued so absurdly high that the owners are prepared to Sell at the Government valuation, without requiring the 10 per cent, added as provided by Ag' Property Tax Assessment Act. The peristent attacks made by Captain Sutter on the West Coast and mining districts generally, both in and out of the House, ara greatly resented by miners. We learn from the West Coast Times that at Kumara an enterprising and respected miner addressed his Excellency a-> follows : — " I hope your Excellency will excuse me, but as an old miner myself, and speaking on l»fhalfof a large class of honest, hard-working men, we give your Excellency a hearty welcome indeed. We hope you will be able to form a better opinion of us than that 'ere ' Captain Sooter,' as he be called, as sets us down as a lot •f State paupers. 'It may be, your Excellency, as how he hasn't many honest, hard-working men among his acquaintances, and consequently measures other people's corn with his own bushel ; but this I may tell him, if he comes this way, that frhe ladies will dress" him up in a very nice suit of black. Your Excellency, we be proud to be honest', hard-working and loyal men, and many of us have had to work out a couple of years' ' dead-horse ' before we got a bit of gold for ourselves. It be a shame and a disgrace to the Parliament of New Zealand to allow us to be black-balled by that 'ere ' Sooter,' and the likes of him. We wish your Excellency long life and happiness, and hope you will enjoy yourself during your visit to our goldfields." His Excellency, replied jn suitable terms, expressing surprise that any such condemnation as that referred to should have been passed on such worthy colonists, who had so greatly promoted the welfare of New Zealand. William Smith, fisherman, of Hamilton Bay, Lower Harbour, informs us that he harpooned the large shark which has been about the Lower Harbour for some time past. Smith states that the shark was first of all harpooned off his bay, and then dragged the dingey through the water to the sandbank in the stream, and there rolled himself over. After this he towed the boat for about two hours and a-half, straightening the hook by which he was caught during the chase. Finally the shark escaped in deep water near the island, sounding the bottom and rolling the harpoon out of himself. The fish, he states, is quite 30ft long and as large round as the girth of a horse, and about 3ft across the mouth. It is intended by several ot the fishermen to hunt him regularly till caught, and they have provided new hooks, harpoons, lances, &c. for the purpose. Before entering upon the "examination of a bankrupt named George Inglis at the Wellington Bankruptcy Court (says the Press), the Assignee presented a report of the estate, containing charges against bankrupt of having done away with his books, obtained money on false representations, gambled at the races, and not accounted for a heavy bundle of notes which it was alleged were in his possession the day previous to his filing. The Chief Justice said he could not_ deal with the bankrupt as for an offence without a specific charge being made against him, so that be might be prepared to meet it, and tbe Assignee elected to swear an information before the R.M. The curious state of the law with regard to the registration of births brought about a somewhat singular case at Wellington last week. As may be known, after a period of six months from the date of the event, births can only be registered "after a conviction by a magistrate. In accordance with this law, Mr John Martin, of Huangarua Station, near Martinborough, appeared in the Welllington Police Court as both prosecutor and defendant, having laid an information against himself for failing to register* the birth of his child, born on March 1, 1885, and was fined in the minimum penalty of Is, and 7s costs. His Worship smiled as he asked the prosecutor-defendant if he pleaded guilty to the charge, to which the latter made an affirmative nod, and left the Court apparently quite pleased at having secured a conviction against himself. Sir Julius Vogel was waited on at Waiwera by the Mayor of Auckland recently (says the Auckland Herald) when the question of charitable aid came up, and Sir Julius expressed his regret that the salaries of the Hospital officials, and the amounts due to con-

tractors, had not been paid. He promised to consult his colleagnes on the matter, with a „, view of ending this state of affairs, and also to stop the subsidies of boroughs and County Councils where they refused to pay their quota for the hospital and the refuges. The " Financial Reform Almanac " for 1886 (says Truth) contains much useful information. In England and Wales 710 persons own onefourth of the entire country; in Scotland 12 persons own one-fourth; and in Ireland 744 persons own one-half. Now' contrast this with Prussia. There are only 108 landowners who have estates that are sufficiently large to be rated at £1500 a year. In the whole country there are only 18,197 properties exceeding 400 acres each ; there are 15,048 owners of between 200 and 400 acres, 389,823 of between 20 and 200, 609,828 of between 3| acres and 20, and 1,087,081 of under 3^ acres. These figures do not include residential sites or house gardens. # The Rev Mr Paton, the well-known missionary, addressed a letter to Mr Service, as President of, the Federal Council, with regard to annexation in the South Seas. In this communication Mr Paton says :-" You have all, no doubt, heard that Germany has hauled down the chief 8 flag and hoisted bis own in Samoa, which will not only cause difficulties and loss to us and our Colonies, but America has sent off a man-of-war connected with it. What guarantee have we that Germany or France will not any clay hoist their flag on the New Hebrides and

Solomon Islands, which would be gardens of tropical wealth to Australia if in British bunds ; but if ill any other, which would give a foreign power strong military positions at the very doors of Australia, and cause much anxiety and trouble to our Colonies. British churches, in giving those islands all the Christianity and civilisation which they possess, have expended over £160,000 of British money, and spent and lost many valuable lives,. The natives all plead fur BriLiih annexation, and also to conserve God.-, work among them they ought to be in British possession. As no other country has -my le^jium.Ue claim to them, surely Britain' 1 ' unwise agreement with France ought to be cancelled, and Britain or Australia annex them at once. Cm your Council do nothing to bring this about?" The following are the returns of the Dunedin Hospital for the past week ■ — Remaining from pi e\ ions \uok ... ... 12"> Admitted during Mieweel»... ... ... L.i Oischnrpced rim-ing the week ... ... ~H JJeaths (Thos. UrooKs.Gwi. l-'looil, ami Catherine Marshall) .. ... ... ... 3 Total remaining ... ... ... 113 News was received in Sydney, by the arrival of the Golden Gate (an American steamer, ol 121 tons), of the murder at New Ireland of two traders, Messrs H. G. Carr and Campbell, on the north-east coast of the island. The latter was brutally murdered by the natives, whi'u engaged in trade, on September 21, and the former, on the same coast, on September 9. Mr Carr has a brother in Auckland. Mr Carr seems to have been most treacherously murdered as he was engaged in showing his goods for trade in the market-house of a village, when one of the natives begau to take liberties, and Mr Carr ordered him out. He refused, and Mr Carr touched him upon the shoulder with his rifle. The native immediately left. Everything was quiet for a time, and Mr Carr continued trading, when he missed his rifles, and he asked for their return. The reply was a spear, which knocked Mr Cut down. He was picked up by a boy named Johnny, and was recovering when beiug carried to the beach. More spears were thrown on the way to the beach, two of which weut right through Mr Carr, and others struck him on the left side. He was got into the boat, but he expired a few minutes before his arrival at Nush.

The Irish Nationalists in America are about to erect in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, a handsome monument to Patrick O'Donnell, who slOt James Carey, the chief informer in the Phoenix Park murder trials. O'Donnell was executed in London for the murder. The monument will be in the form of a Celtic cross, executed in white Sicilian marble. The total height will be about 13ft. The inscription commences as follows: "Thy will be done. In Miemory of Patrick O'Donnell, who heroically gave up his life for Ireland in London, England, dn the 18th December, 1883. No tears, but prayers for the dead who died for Ireland."

In connection with the labour riots in England, the following extract from the Pall Mali Gazette of the Ist January throws some lighi on how the matter of providing employment.^ regarded by the working classes :—": — " A, special meeting of the Sunderland Town Council was held yesterday to consider the subject of the distress in the town. Hundreds of men collected outside, and a discussion arose in the Council as to whether they should be admitted. Ultimately the doors wore opened, and the back part of the room was filled. The following motion by Mr Alderman Storey, M.l\, was carried unanimous!) : — ' That, with the view of providing labour for the unemployed, the Council purchase sufficient whmstoue to employ the men for a fortnight, and that the Highways Committee meet on January 2 to consider the question of works.' Two of the men ii- th room then stepped forward. One said thej were on the verge of starvation ; the other asked the Council if they did not see that if the men did not get relief they woul I take it. Would it not be easier for relief t > be found for the men than to have to bring perhaps 100 policemen into the town to piote.ct lives and property ? The Mayor informed the men that they could commence to break stones the next day and go on for the next fortnight. The men thanked the Council and withdrew."

His Eminence Cardinal Moran, in company with the Bishops of Maitland, Adelaide, Aucklan.', and Wellington, impacted the Dominican Convent and St. Joseph.-. Girls' Schools on Monday, and his Eminence afterwards visited the Cliffs. Mr B B. Cargill's residence. The party left for Christchurch on Tuesday, where Cardinal Moran will lay the foundation-stone ot the Magdalene Asylum. He Ihen proceeds to Wellington, where he will opcAi the Theological College there. Mr J. W. Jago, we learn, waited on the Cardinal on Saturday with rogard to delivering a lecture on tempernnce. The Cardinal, in reply, expressed his deep regret that his other engagements would m t allow him to htay in Dnnedm long enough to accede to the wishes of the friends of temperance, with whose work he mo c t cordially and heartily sympathised ; but he hoped on another occa sion to visit Dunedin, when " he would be most happy to render what assistance he could to so good a work." - The Rev. Rutherford .Waddell is about fo leave Dunedin for a trip to the Home Country. At a 'meeting of the Deacons' Court held on Monday eveuing, it was resolved to grant him leave of absence for 12 months.

The following new patents have been applied for : — An invention for the St. Helier's gol Isaving process, by Arthur Wemyss Horsburgh, of Auckland, settlor ; an invention for an improved method of clipping horses or other animals, or preparation of skins, &c, to be called " The Universal Clipper or Cutter," by John Howard Daltou, tailor, and Richard Mcrgan, civil engineer, both of Auckland ; an invention for Reeve's improved guide hose-coupling, by Robert Bldred Martin Reeve, of Rangiora, carpenter.

Mr Albert Martin, son of the Hon. John Martin, of Wellington, has been admitted to the degree of M.D., after having served his term as one of the house-surgeons of Guy's Hospital, London.

At this moment, when Radicals are being accused of proposing to give every poor labourer a cow at the public expense, it may be worth while (says a London paper) to mention the fact that this is exactly what Mr Pitt proposed to do in 1797. One of the clauses in his Poor Law Bill provided that two Justices of the Peace might authorise the advance of money out of the rates to enable an indigent person to purchase a cow or "other animal yielding profit." Over this clause Jeremy Bentham poured the vials of his contempt.

The Wesieyan Conference sitting at Sydney have decided not to remove the Rev. J. B. Moulton from Tonga, as recommended by the deputation which visited the island; and in view, among other things, of the manner in which the recent secession had been brought

about, the number and claims of those who remain steadfast in their adherence tv tlie Church, and the. strong grounds which exist for believing thai, numbers who have left would at once return if freedom of worship were allowed, the Conference concurs in the opinion e,\'pn;;.sed by the deputation, that they should not withdraw their agents from the Friendly Islands a field of missionary toil in winch the Methodist Church has successfully laboured for more'thuu half a cencury.

The Gazette notifies that tlw Otago, Niiheby, and Southland Hospital 1 ", mid the Oi.'i&d Benevolent Institutions are incorporated as separate institutions. The Rev. J. Beckouhaui is placed on the list of officiating ministers under the Marriage Act. Probate of the will of the late Charles MAdam, of Wedderbnrn, has been granted to the public trustee.

A notable hook of I.Jie cutinug publishing season (says a Honi" p.iper) will be Lieutenant Greely'h story of his tln'e" year .* rnpi'i->ouiui:iif' in the Ari'<ie regions hi writing, Lieutenant Greely has been permit-led by the Government, to make use of all ih.r- official paper* of the expedition, as well us bis private icuniaK ; audio these papers no other writer has had acce.?. The actual records have never beem open to the Press, and the first newspaper acrounis after the res-cue of the party gave but a gliiny-e of the true narrative.

As a result of Captain Stronach's visit to Oamaru, a contingent of tbe Dunedin Hussars was formed at that place. The North Otag.j Times states that the following were c ected to form a committee of the contingent after 21 members had been sworn in :— Lance-Corpor.i! Stronach, Troopers H. Musgrave, A. M'Master, F. N. Robinson, and J. B. Reid. Trooper 11. B. Caldwfell was appointed secretary and treasurer.

The library of the late Rev. W. H. Gualtcr, M.A., of the Dunedin First Church, was sold by auction in Melbourne (writes our conv.spondent) on Friday and Saturday, February 5 and 6. The theological portion was sold ou the first day, when a goodly sprinkling of clergymen were present, and fair prices were re ilised. The works of general literature were disposed of on Saturday. They included a number of very valuable works, with capital editions of ail the best English authors ; and there was considerable competition

A man named Daniel Pooley was severely injured at Upper Waihao, South Canterbury, on Saturday, by the explosion, before he could get away, ol a charge of powder he had placed in a rock.

A verdict of " Accidental death' 1 was returned at the inquest held on Tuesday at Outram by Mr I. N. Watt and a jury, on tho body of Frank Park, who was killed at Nenthorn on Friday through being crushed by a stone falling on him.

An extract from a private letter received from Fiji, published by rue North Otago Times, states that business in Fiji is very depressed. Sugar and copra, or dried cocoanut, have fallen in value, leaving the grower without sufficient margin of profit to render the industries worth prosecuting.

The Wellington Press learns from a private cable message received by a gentleman in Wellington that the action which 'the Hon. John Bi-yce has proceeded to England to carry through against Mr John Rusden tor libelling him will come on before the In.i of the present month. It is therefore probable that Air Bryce will be on his return to New /■inland vety shortly.

The example ol the Ivoliiischu Zeitung, which lias of late begun to guv biographical sketches of prominent English politicians, ha-, bum followed by tile Independnuce Belgo, which evidently gives the fhst. place in English politics to Ml- Parnell, under nli>>.->i> name it publishes three columns of small print.

Mr Matthew Wood Green (writes our Melbourne correspondent) has been making quite a sensation in Adelaide by lecturing in opposition to spiritualism. He gave a course of sit lectures and attracted audiences averaging over LOOO to each lecture. Two enthusiasts — or rather one enthusiast (a musician) and one "investigator"' — publicly argued with him, but the audience voted that Mr Green had the best of the argument. Mr Green appears to have abandoned life insurance, as he is described as an " evangelist of the Christian Disciples." Mr Joseph Mackay, who like Mr Green was in the insurance business in New Zealand, has gone to Western Australia, where he intends establishing agencies of tho New York Life Insurance concern which he has recently joined.

The French papers are full of a case in which a woman was put on her trial for strangling binbaby, and at the preliminary examination .she confessed her crime. Ab tbe trial medical evidence was heard, and the doctor told the judge he -did not believe ibe woman was this culprit. The finger-marks were fresh on the victim's throat when he nwle his examination, and hhe mark..! were singular. He examined tho woman's hands and found her finger* long, slender, and well-shaped, but the marks were of a short-fingered hand, stumpy and misshapen, and one of the fingers — the fii"-t— was abnormally short. On this tbe prisoner burst into tears, said she was fond of the child, had not destroyed it, and mentioned in her excitement tbe real culprit. He w.is a man of a better class of life, with whom she had lived as domestic servant. His arrest followed, and the doctor pointed out that the prisoner's hands were formed as he had described, and, moreover, that the first finger was without a nail and almost deficient of a joint. On (hi, evidence the jury convicted.

It may be doubted whether Mr Sala"s eloquent advocacy of the New Zealand frozen meat trade will avail much. He only repeats (says the Home News) what all sensible people in this country have long since known, that the trade languishes and is likely to be killed outright by the monstrous monopoly of the meat salesmen at Home. It isibe old story, the difficulty of distribution to the consumers and the retail trade. No machinery has yet been devised to dispense with the services of the unscrupulous middlemen. Frozen meat must pass through the ordinary channels of said In the transiMt becomes enhanced in price, for the wholesale dealers do not choose to surrender their profits. Thus producer and consumer Loth suffer, while the middlemen thrive. Here, again, the tyranny of modern British monopolies comes in ; we allow ourselves to be ruled by any interloper who can get possession of the market. For years now the whole of the book trade has been practically in the hands of tbe Messrs Mudio; in the same way, newspapers me chiefly distributed through the Messrs Pmith. New Zealand can hardljr hope to successfully "overcome the combination of hostile meat salesmen, and the British public are seemingly too much the slaves of routine to protect themselves. But it will be a thousand pities if the frozen meat trade is suffered to drop ; it is a chance of obtaining cheap food that is not likely to recur when it has once fallen to the ground.

The Sessional Committee on Trusts of the Anglican Synod, sitting at Auckland, recommended as follows re All Saints', Dunedin : — " This Synod is not able to authorise the transfer of land applied for by the parishioners of All Saints', Dunedm." Tho Bishop of Dunedin proposed the following addition to the motion : •• But they are of opinion that if the parishioners and Diocesan Synod wish to use the existing building for tht; purposes of a cathedral, the terms of the trust deed offer no objection in law to their doing so" The Primate said thai, when Bishop Nevill was appointed Bishop of Dunedin au omission was probably m<ide in not naming a particular church as hi& cathedral. He thought that the recommendation in this matter should come from the Diocesan Synod itnd be sanctioned by the General Synod. The BMiop ol' Wellington and others strongly opposed the proposed addition to the motion l>3 r ibe Bishop of Dunedin. Archdeacon Williams maintained tint I the. matter ought not to have been brought, before tbe Synod. The Standing Committee was f.lie proper tribunal. After considerable discusfimi, the Bishop of Dunedin's amendment was negatived, and the recommendation of the Committee was adopted.